Improvement in the manufacture xf  hard sugar



aawwomw.

J. 0.. DONNER &IS.

Improvement in the Manufacture-'of Hard Sugar.

Patented March 5, 1872.

remo? muon.

JOHN o. DONNER, or WILLIAMsBUne, AND sAiuoEL s. r-iErwoa'rH, or

YoNKEns, NEW roam IMPROVEMENT lN THE MANUFACTURE GF SUGAR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No1-.5124,197, dated March5, 1872.

SrEcrFrcArioN.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN O. DONNER, of Williamsburg, in the county ofKings and State ot New York, and SAMUEL S. Hue WORTH, of Yonkers, in thecounty of Westchester and State ot' New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in the .Art ot' Making Hard Sugar; and we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and

exact description ofthe same, whereby a person skilled in thc art canmake and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawingand to the letters of reference marked thereon. y

Likc'lettcrs in the figures indicate the same parts. L

Qur invention consists in certain methods,

means, and appliances for making hard sugar IFahrenheit, into suitablemolds, in which crystallization is perfected. 'lhis crystallizationtakes place by cooling down such magma77 or mixture of crystals andsirup. v As it gradually cools smaller crystals are tormed, binding thelarger ones-those formed in the vacuumpan-togetheix At a certain stage AOt 'the process the uncrystallizcd sirup is drawn ott' hy means ot' ahole in the bottom oi" the molds. After this has been donc a colorlesssaturated solution ol` sugar is run through the molds, at a lowtemperature rendering the sugar white.

and formingminutc crystals which harden the.

i/vhole mass. The molds are allowed todi-ain clearly or quite dry, whenthe loail oi' hard sugar is knocked out of the mold and placed in a kilnto expel any remaining moisture.

A/llhe washing-liquor in this process is used at a low temperature, forthe reason that it' poured onto the sugar hot the cool 'sugar would solower its temperature as to precipitate a sutlicientlnulnber of smallcrystals to choke' the mold and prevent the liquor run ning through.Soft sugar is sometimes hardencd by being pressed under a great pressureand then dried; but this sugar is never quite hard for want of theminute crystals which are formed in the vforegoing process.

In our improved method ot' makinghard sugar we are obliged touse, acentrifugal machine of special construction, or make essentialmodifications ot1v such machines as are now used, in order to be able toremove the hard sugar from the machine after it is made. This we willproceed to describe.

Figure l is a cross-section through the .shalt and basket Ot' ourimproved machine. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the basket,showing the compartments. Fig. 3 shows one section or box, such yaswould be placed in an'` ordinary centrifugal machine to adapt 1t to ourimproved process. Fig. 4 shows the same divided into smallercompartments.

The revolving basket c b, the spindle c', `the outside trough d forreceiving the liquor thrown oil", the fra-mef f, and the pulley e fordriving the machine are constructed in the manner usual in centrifugalmachines, except that the top flange ot' the basket is leftoft'V and aband ot' angle-iron placed around the top of the basket outside ot' thecylindrical portion. Tnside ol' the basket is a removable part consisting oi' a bottom plate, g, which is made of cast metal, of a similar shapeto' the bottom plate of the basket, and has a circular aperture in themiddle to lit the sha-ft or spindle, the vertical division-plates 7L h,which lie in radial lines and touch the cylindrical portion ot' thebasket, and a top ring ortlange, t', the upperface otl which is flushwith the top ot' the revolving basket. rlhis ilange may be made ofcopper, b ass, or any other suitable metal. The vertical division-platcsmay be placed at any desired distance apart, or may have horizontalplates between them, as shown in Fig. 4. That part of the revolvingbasket usually made cylindrical may be made slightly conical, ifdesired, for facility in removing the internal part last described. Acover, j, is made to tit tightly down upon' the top ot' our improvedmachine, and to be held firmly by being secured to the central spindleor to the outside edge of the basket.. The upper part. of' the spindleis made hollow, and has small apertures u leading into the interior ofthe basket, as shown in the drawing. These are for the purpose ot'admitting` liquor, air, or steam, as hereinafter described.

Our method ot' operating to produce hard sugar with the above-describedmachine is as follows: We prepare a magma Aoi' sugar consistin g ofasaturated solution, at a high temperature, mixed wi th crystals of sugarofa lower temperature, an d place a sut'ticient quantity in the machineto iill all the cells above described. After it is put in through theopening in the top of the removable partI above described the top plateis placed over it and firmly secured in its place. The machine is thenrapidly revolved in thc usual manner. The centrifugal force causes thesirup to pass through the sugar and be thrown out through the perforatedplate Z). The reduction ot' the temperature ot' the saturated solution,by passing through the cooler crystals ot' sugar, causes a great numberot small crystals to form, which binds together the whole mass andrenders it hard; or the machine may be iilled with a nuiglna ol' aunil'orm temlwrature, such as is ordinarily worked in centrifugalmachines, and at'ter the sirup has been expelled by rapid revolution asaturated solution oi"` sugar, at a high temperature, can be introducedthrough the central opening', which cools as it passes through the sugaralready 'i'ormed and deposits the small crystals to render it hard.

ltwill beobserved that ourimproved process depends upon the reductionoi' the temperature oi" the sirup contained in the magma while rcvolvingin the centrifugal machine. lfVarm air or steam can also be introducedthrough the central apertures to dry the sugar in thc machine, and amoderately hard sugar may be l'ormed by passing hot air or steam throughsugar i'ormcd in the ordinary way in our improved machine. After thehard sugar is .2 1eme? formed the cover and interior part are removedand thc blocks of sugar knocked out from the cells and further dried inkilns, or treated in the ordinary manner oi' preparing hard sugar forsale. y

We do not confine our invention to the partieular machine abovedescribed, nor to the shape or construction ofthe cells in which thehard sugar is formed, as various devices may be easily contrivedanswering the same pur pose. Our invention can be easily adapted tomachines of other construction, or to those that are now in use, byinserting` within them sectional cells or frames, such as are shown inFigs. 3 and 4, which are placed around the circle inside of theperforated cylindrical sides of the machine, and, when filled with hardsugar by our improved process, can be removed from the machine to takeout the sugar. lhcse cells can be made ot' various sizes and depths,according to the size and shape ol' the blocks of sugar desired.

Claims.

Vhat we claim as our invention is- 1. The preparation ot' hard sugar ina ccntrit'ugal machine by the use ot a magma consisting of a saturatedsolution of sugar, at a higher temperature, mixed with crystals ot'sugar ot' alower temperature, substantially in the manner hereinspecified.

2. The preparation of hard sugar in a centrit'ngal machine by passing' asaturated solution ot' sugar, ata highertemperature, through soi't sugaralready formed in the machine at a lower temlierature, substantially inthc manner herein described.

3. The interior removable frame g h 'i in combination with. the basketot' acent'rii'ngal machine, snbstantially as herein specilied.A

J. 0. DONNER.

S. S. lllllWOR'lH.

\\"itnesse z J. G. JENKINS, N. Wroitorr.

